171k views
1 vote
Based on the information in the article, which of the following moths would most likely be eaten by a bat in Gorongosa National Park?

User Vidur Punj
by
8.0k points

1 Answer

6 votes

Final answer:

The moth most likely to be eaten by a bat in Gorongosa National Park is one that stands out against its background due to poor camouflage, as it would be more visible to echolocating and visually hunting predators.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is asking which moth in Gorongosa National Park is most likely to be predated upon by bats. To determine which moth would most likely be eaten by a bat, we need to consider the moth's visibility to predators like bats that rely on echolocation and sight for hunting. In a hypothetical scenario, if the environment in Gorongosa National Park were to undergo a change that affected how moths camouflage themselves, such as a change in the color or pattern of the moths' resting surfaces, then the moth species which now stands out the most against its background would likely be more susceptible to predation by bats.

For example, imagine a population of moths that are mostly light-colored, resting on the bark of trees that have become darker due to environmental changes such as pollution or forest fires. These moths would no longer blend in with their background and would become more visible to predators. The concept is similar to the well-documented case of the peppered moth in England during the Industrial Revolution, where the previously common light-colored form became predated upon more frequently after pollution darkened tree bark, giving an advantage to the dark-colored form of the moth.

Analogously, in Gorongosa National Park, any moth with coloring that stands out against the typical backgrounds of their environment would most likely be more visible to predators like bats. With this concept in mind, coupled with known factors such as predation pressure and environmental adaptation, we could predict that moths with poor camouflage abilities or those whose coloring contrasts sharply with their environment would be more likely to be eaten by bats.

User Olivier Payen
by
7.9k points